Sharing Case Evidence

Jesse Hitchcock
posted by | 5sc
May 19, 2021

We have reached a significant milestone in the Charter Challenge for Fair Voting - we have served the government with our evidence package. This evidence supports our fight for a voting system that gives Canadians fair and equal representation in our democratic systems.

The Evidence

The evidence package includes four expert affidavits from leading researchers in political science and political theory addressing the key elements of our case:

  • Prof. Nadia Urbinati (Columbia University) - the relationship between voting and political representation
  • Prof. John Carey (Dartmouth College) - comparing voting systems
  • Prof. Karen Bird (McMaster University) - representation of women and visible minorities
  • Prof. Lawrence LeDuc (University of Toronto) - voter participation, history of proportional voting in Canada and previous reform efforts

In the next few weeks, we’ll introduce you to these experts and provide highlights from their affidavits. We will also share original analyses from Byron Weber Becker (University of Waterloo) and Antony Hodgson (Fair Voting BC). Several voters from various political perspectives have also submitted affidavits outlining how the current voting system leaves them feeling disenfranchised.

For those of you who are keen to dig in right away, we have posted the affidavits here. 

What’s Next?

The federal government will review our evidence and select their own expert witnesses. Following, both sides will have a chance to cross-examine any of the witnesses and we will have an opportunity to file any additional evidence necessary to address the government’s submission. At that point, each side will prepare its factum (the written argument we will submit to the court) and agree on a time to go to court.

Supporting the Challenge

Over 900 of you have helped us reach this major milestone – thank you! Our next stage of work - cross-examination will likely cost about $35,000, and we’ll be sharing more details about our goals and timelines in our upcoming emails. Please support our next steps by donating monthly.

As always, anyone who gives $25 or more in a year will receive a charitable donation tax receipt for their contributions.

Thank you for your continued support. More to come soon!

 

Jesse Hitchcock, Springtide

Antony Hodgson, Fair Voting BC

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  • Jesse Hitchcock
    published this page in Blog Updates 2021-05-19 08:07:19 -0300


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Key Events in the Case:

  • We're currently waiting for our appeal to be heard (scheduled for Nov 2024)
  • We submitted our appeal factum in late April 2024.
  • We filed our Notice of Appeal on Dec 29, 2023.
  • Justice Ed Morgan issued his ruling on Nov 30, 2023 and unfortunately dismissed our application.
  • The case was heard September 26-28, 2023 in the Ontario Superior Court.
  • We received the government's affidavits in late Fall 2022.
  • We served the government with our affidavit and evidence package in May 2021.
  • We filed the case with the Ontario Superior Court in October 2019.

How you can help

The main way you can help is to support the case financially. We are now raising $30,000 to support our preparations for filing a leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada (spring 2025). You can support the case for as little as a dollar a month.

What to expect

At each step, we set a donation goal based on our estimate of the costs for the next stage of the process, and invite our supporters to contribute towards that goal to ensure the case can continue to move forward.